Business
Google just changed the game again and SEOs everywhere are paying attention. In the latest episode of SEOKwentuhan, Gab and Gelo break down what Google’s new AI Mode means for search results, rankings, and how people use the internet.
This is not another "SEO is dead" conversation. It is a practical look at how AI generated answers, closed loop search experiences, and changes in user behavior are reshaping the way we work. The episode tackles real questions like what happens to organic traffic, how to adapt your content, and which metrics to focus on now.
If you are an SEO, marketer, or content creator trying to stay ahead, this episode is worth your time. Here is a quick breakdown of the key takeaways from the conversation.
Transcript Summary
00:00 – 01:17
Gab: Hello and welcome to a new episode of SEO Kwentuhan where we talk about the lighter side of SEO. And this is a hot topic that we're going to talk about today. Nice. Our topic is always hot but this is hotter than the previous ones.
Gab: Our topic today is about the AI mode that Google released. How many days ago was that? I think it was 1 or 2 days ago. This is really new.
00:30 – 01:17
Gelo: And just a disclaimer, this is just an opinion on what might happen. Because this is not yet available in other countries, right? It's only in the US. It's only in the US, I think, this beta test.
Gelo: So, it's just there. So, we're guessing now. But our guess has backup data. The ones that are said to be even better than us.
01:17 – 03:07
Gab: Open AI. Yes, that's it. The one that had an emergency with Google. They launched a Search Lab.
Gab: It's like a test. You'll sign up first to use it. I signed up there before and I'm using the AI Overview on my account. If you'll notice, on your other accounts before, on Google, the AI Overview doesn't show up.
Gab: So you need to sign up for Search Labs. But now, Google automatically rolled out an AI Overview especially in the U.S. So they already have a tab. If you search on Google, there are images, videos, news. Next to that, there's an AI mode.
Gelo: That's my observation now. Even if it's on VPN, sir, you won't see this? Or if you're on VPN, you'll see this? I haven't tried it yet, but I think if you have VPN, you have a chance.
Gab: Because it says, any US-based search, they will come up with something. That's what I read. So it's like what happens in AI mode, it's like you're inside... For example, you have a question and it's like you're in a closed loop, you're just there, you're not going out.
Gelo: Is that right?
Gab: Correct, correct. That's right.
Gab: So Google is automatically answering you. So it's summarizing everything, right? If you'll notice, when you're talking to ChatGPT, he'll remember what you talked about before. Even if you don't say your name, sometimes you'll be prompted to include your name, he'll recognize you when you search for another new query.
03:07 – 03:31
Gab: So that's the same with AI mode. You'll have personalized. How big is this server? I mean, Google, of course, but for this AI mode, it's probably separate.
Gelo: It's a bigger data center. That's what I'm thinking, maybe a whole barangay.
03:31 – 04:39
Gelo: Anyway, how do you think this AI mode will affect our SEO strategies? How can we recalibrate?
Gelo: Alright. Well, I have to admit that the AI mode has a huge effect. fully rolled out. Because SEOs are starting to panic about what they can do after.
Gab: Because from the traditional type where you'll put keywords on your page, you'll target a topic, then you'll be in the top 100, right? Then in the top 10, you'll have a chance to click. Now, in AI mode, it's really... It's even harder now because we don't know what the ranking factors are yet.
Gab: Unlike before, we now have a clue of what the ranking factors are so we can get out of the traditional search. That's why we practice our SEO skills so we can learn how to help our clients. But in AI Overview, it's like a new method or optimization that we need to do, and maybe more advanced or more enhanced processes than what we were doing before. So that's what I think can happen here.
04:39 – 05:12
Gab: As much as possible, you should be in what they call Position Zero. Before, it was just featured snippets. Now, it's AI Overview. So that's your aim.
Gab: Right now, we're still experiencing the AI overview. But this AI mode, it's a featured snippet that's interactive. So, I don't know if we'll have another battle here. The strategy-wise, I don't know if you need to...
05:13 – 06:24
Gelo: I used to preach this to my students, shoutouts to my students. We will think of it as a marketer. We should really think of it that way.
Gelo: For example, some people don't even know about ICP. I don't know everything but there are some. They are focusing on the easy fixes. The easy fixes on websites that AI can fix now, it's easy to do now.
Gelo: The metadata, stuff like that. Strategies will have a huge impact. I'm a bit scared so I'm hesitating right now but when I see this future, will our work become obsolete? That's what I'm thinking right now.
Gelo: Is this Armageddon? Is this like what they say, SEO is dying thing? I'm at a point where I'm like, what are we going to do next year? What are we going to do next next year?
06:38 – 08:15
Gelo: Because things happen so fast. So that's it, sir. I think Google is just trying to balance what's happening. Let's just admit it.
Gab: The optimization that we're doing before went a bit wrong because there's already an AI. Let's say, even in topic ideation, we sometimes reach 30 minutes to 1 hour to generate 10 articles. Now, in 3 minutes, you can already do that. as long as your prompting is correct.
Gab: So, what I'm saying here is that Google is trying to balance the capabilities of SEOs. It's not really correlated, but that's what I see. It's trying to balance that it's easy to do SEO now, but let's make it harder so that you won't just do SEO. You need to have an omnichannel, just like what you said.
Gab: Or to learn other skills. That's why now, I'm seeing potential PPC ads. Maybe this will have an advantage in the future when Google added new sections or new features. Because it's continuously updating.
08:18 – 10:12
Gab: I'll just add on to what will affect the SEO strategies. I saw a post. In local SEO, it's still okay as a niche. Because you're still pulling out the data from local pack in GMB.
Gelo: So I think it's still okay. I agree with Anya. Speaking of... I'm not saying everything, but mostly what I see now is that SMEs, small to medium sized enterprises, are producing blogs.
Gelo: Mostly garbage. Sorry to say, not all of it. But I see it because it's easy to do. You can publish a lot of...
Gelo: Yes, in bulk. Then let's say you can't publish 1,000 in a day, then I'll just divide it little by little. But you're still releasing garbage.
Gelo: So in short, what I want to say is that the World Wide Web is becoming overcrowded with garbage. And maybe this is also one of the steps that Google is doing, as Sir said, to level the playing field. of everyone, not just the SEO, the content writer.
10:13 – 10:56
Gelo: I don't know, if I'm right, correct me if I'm wrong, and this is an opinionated view. Affiliate marketing will have a hard time here and the publication websites that are just publications without real branding, I mean real business behind it. So that's one of the things that will affect this AI mode a lot. And it gives me the chills.
Gab: That's right. I can also see the data related to that and there are already changes. So this really started when OpenAI came out. A lot of updates happened that led to that for sure.
10:57 – 11:17
Gab: One of the strategies on content creation, I don't know how you detect AI when you use AI. Because I admit that we use AI in my team for creating content. But there's a net behind it, like proofreading, fact-checking, we do that. But this time, you should be more original in the content you're doing.
11:30 – 12:49
Gab: Now, organic traffic is really going down. I noticed this on the websites that you handle that are all informational. They really get a big chunk of traffic from organic. But on the other hand, the transactional keywords are not affected.
Gab: Money. What happens here with our clients, instead of before, our priority or primary metrics were heavy, the traffic, now what we're doing is mostly conversion,
Gelo: Priority.
Gelo: It's still being reported, yes, but we're spending less time on the traffic that goes down, the pages that need to be refreshed. So as long as the article is related to your product or service, for me, it's better to prioritize it. especially the bottom-of-the-funnel keywords that have the potential to give conversions to your client.
Gab: You should focus on that. I can see from the data that 20% of organic traffic went down. That's a lot. if we're talking about year-over-year.
Gab: But as long as you're saying it and you're transparent to the client, they'll understand what's going on. Because we're not holding onto the fact that the behavior is changing, the search engine is changing. What's important is that we're guiding them on what they need to know.
13:10 – 14:33
Gab: Like this AI mode, so you can get strategies here or additional information that you can share with your client. Sir, I see here that the marketing funnel It will become a pyramid? It will become a pyramid. That's where we'll focus on.
Gab: The bottom of the funnel will be ready to buy. That's what will happen. The funnel will be upside down. We'll focus on money-making pages.
Gab: One of the shifts that I'm doing, I'll explain this. What I'm doing now in the team is to do product-led SEO. Maybe it's better if you read the book or have an idea about what product-led SEO is about. Because now, you should be focusing on that.
Gab: When I say product, for example, services. So your client's product is services. So you should be focusing on that. Like what Sir said, you should focus on both or bottom of the funnel.
Don't forget to share and connect with our communities as well. Let's achieve success together!